Lyria Stark
by DJFireHawk
Summary: Lyria is Tony's twin, younger by a few minutes, and she's a very different person than he is. When the world starts heading fore heck in a hand basket she gets dragged into the middle of things as a certain mischievous god becomes interested in a unique feature she possesses. Will she prove to be his weakness or will she become his greatest strength?
1. Chapter 1

Lyria Stark

A/N: I wanted to do another Avengers story with Tony having a sister…and of course involving Loki because he's awesome lol.

Chapter 1

Out in the Atlantic Ocean the infamous red and gold Iron Man suit and a similar purple and silver suit were cutting a Pipe Transport line with laser cutters coming from their hands. Iron Man places a Stark Energy Reactor over the cut section and it lights up in a mere second. Iron Man and the purple suit rocketed out of the water and fly towards Stark Tower, with Iron Man calling the tower from his suit and connecting with his girlfriend Pepper Potts and tuning the other suit into the conversation as well.

"Good to go on this end. The rest is up to you guys."

"You disconnected the transmission lines? Are we off the grid?"

"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy."

"Well, assuming the Arc Reactor takes over, and actually works?"

"I assume. Light her up."

As the two suits fly towards the Stark Tower the power is switched on and the Stark sign lights up with a bright blueish-white color.

"How does it look?"

"Like Christmas, but with more... me."

A soft snort comes from the other suit which Iron Man pointedly ignores.

"Gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign. You need to do some press. I'm in D.C. tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next billboards."

"Pepper, you're killing me. The moment? Remember? Enjoy the moment."

"Then get in here and I will."

The two suits arrive at the skyscraper penthouse and Tony lands first to begin the process of taking off his suit through a hi-tech gauntlet of gadgets and robotic arms. His A.I. computer system, Jarvis, chimes in through his helmet before it pulls back from his face.

"Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line."

"I'm not in. I'm actually out."

As Tony walks fully into the interior of the penthouse Jarvis speaks again as the second suit lands to begin the process of being dis-armored.

"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting."

"Close the line Jarvis. I've got a date."

Pepper stares up at the monitors of the reactor device and beams a bright smile at Tony as he walks inside, shedding the last of his armor. A smallish woman with long black hair falling in wild waves around her face follows shortly after. She's slightly shorter than Pepper with a fit yet soft look and bright green eyes. She follows Tony over to where Pepper is standing as they all check the monitors.

"Levels are holding steady... I think."

"Of course they are, I was directly involved. Which brings me to my next question: how does it feel to be a genius?"

"Well, ha, I really wouldn't know now, would I?"

"What do you mean? All this came from you. Well, both of you really but Lyria's involvement is kind of a given."

"No. All this came from that."

Pepper points to the small arc reactor in his chest plate.

"Give yourself some credit, please. Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself... twelve percent of the credit."

The black haired woman, Lyria, winces and shakes her head before Pepper gives Tony an incredulous look. Lyria just lets out a low whistle and whispers in Tony's ear before Pepper can get her own back on him.

"Wrong thing to say brother dearest…"

"Twelve percent?"

"An argument can be made for fifteen."

"Twelve percent? For my baby?"

"Well, I did do all the heavy lifting. Literally, I lifted the heavy things. And sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you."

Pepper sits on a large comfortable looking sofa and pours two glasses of champagne, knowing full well that the other young woman doesn't drink alcohol at all. It is one of the few things about her that is different from her brother Tony. They're both prone to reckless behavior, both have genius level intelligence with technology, both have metal suits to fly around in, both love anything that gives them an adrenaline rush, and both love to annoy Director Fury…where they differ is that Tony loves alcohol and Lyria hates it, Tony is loud and Lyria is quiet, Tony enjoys living it up with expensive things and Lyria prefers to be more simplistic, Tony likes to sleep with any and every attractive female while Lyria prefers to wait until she finds her soul mate…if she ever does…though lately Tony has been solely focused on Pepper which makes Lyria happy.

"Oooooh."

"My private elevator..."

"You mean OUR elevator, brother dear?"

"...was teeming with sweaty workmen. I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?"

"Not gonna be that subtle."

"I'll tell you what. Next building's gonna say 'Potts' on the tower."

"On the lease."

"...Call your mom, can you bunk over?"

Lyria rolled her eyes at her brother and shared a small smile with Pepper as Jarvis chimed in again and interrupted the moment.

"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden."

"Mr. Stark, we need to talk."

Tony picks up his phone and looks into it at Coulson, while the two women try to contain their laughter at his rather childish antics.

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message."

"This is urgent."

"Then leave it urgently."

At that moment the elevator door opens and Coulson appears. Pepper smiles at the SHIELD agent dressed in a nice suit while Tony scowls at him and Lyria just crosses her arms and looks bored.

"Security breach."

Tony looks at Pepper.

"That's on you."

"Mr. Stark."

"Phil! Come in."

Tony gives Pepper a confused look.

"Phil?"

"I can't stay"

"Uh, his first name is Agent."

"Come on in, we're celebrating."

"Which is why he can't stay."

Tony gives Coulson a strained smile that clearly screams go away in the most polite manner Tony is capable of. Lyria snorts softly from her spot on the sofa and Coulson turns to look at her.

"Miss Stark, how have you been? Mr. Stark, we need you to look this over. Soon as possible."

Coulson tries to hand Tony a large flat computer of sorts while Lyria pointedly ignores the man.

"I don't like being handed things."

"That's alright, `cause I love to be handed things. So, let's trade."

She passes her glass of champagne to Coulson and takes the file from him, then takes Tony's champagne glass from him and passes the computer over instead.

"Thank you."

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday."

"This isn't a consultation."

"Is this about The Avengers? Which I...I know nothing about."

"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify…Neither did my sister for that matter."

"I didn't know that either."

"Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others…and Lyria is defiant, willful, and a danger magnet."

"That I did know."

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore."

"Whatever. Miss Potts, Lyria, got a minute?"

Pepper raises a finger at Coulson with an apologetic look.

"Half a moment."

Pepper walks over to Tony who places the files from the device into his own databases. Lyria moves to stand in front of Coulson, looking less-than-pleased to see him. He in turn takes on a slightly sheepish, and almost apologetic look.

"I know you are still angry with SHIELD for certain events of the past, but I promise you things are better now. Director Fury is good at what he does and…"

The young woman cuts him off, not willing to listen to whatever he has to say. She lets a set of lavender wings unfurl from behind her and stretches them out, which Coulson knows is a threat display and he takes it seriously.

"Honestly? I don't care. I don't care about SHIELD, or Fury, or any of it. I care about my brother. That's all. If anything you, Fury, or SHIELD does takes him from me…I will hunt all of you down and kill you. Slowly and very painfully. Is that clear…Agent Coulson?"

"Crystal clear Miss Stark, though I sincerely hope it never comes to that.

"You and me both Coulson."

While those two were having their conversation, Tony and Pepper were having one of their own.

"You know, I thought we were having a moment."

"I was having twelve percent of a moment. This seems serious, Phil's pretty shaken."

"How could you notice? Why is he Phil?"

"What is all of this?"

"This is, um..."

Tony expands his arms and different profiles appear in holographic form floating in the air in front of Tony and Pepper.

"This."

Screens appear of Captain America in action, the Hulk roaring as he attacks the Army at Culver University, Thor fighting the Destroyer in Arizona, and another is of Loki and the Tesseract, to which Stark and Pepper look on in awe. Tony also notices a couple clips of him and his sister which make him scowl slightly, concerned for her safety.

"I'm going to take the jet to D.C. tonight."

"Tomorrow."

"You've got homework. You've got a lot of homework."

"Well, what if I…didn't?"

"If you didn't? You mean when you finished? Well, um...then..."

She whispers something in his ear. Tony GASPS. Coulson looks away in embarrassment while Lyria laughs at him.

"Square deal. Flash date."

Pepper kisses him softly and Tony looks like he practically melts.

"Work hard."

Pepper walks away from Tony and over to Coulson.

"So, any chance you're driving by LaGuardia?"

"I can drop you."

"Fantastic. Oh, I wanna hear about the um, cellist. Is that still a thing?"

"She went back to Portland."

"What?"

As Pepper leaves with Agent Coulson in the elevator and their voices fade out, Tony grabs the Tesseract in holograph form looking rather worried. Lyria walks over and hugs him from behind, also eyeing the holographic cube. Tony notices her wings are out and gives her a curious look since she usually only calls them out when she absolutely has to. She generally prefers to use the suit he built for her so people don't stare as much or ask a lot of awkward questions that she can't answer. The wings had shown up when they turned 18 and neither of them had any idea why, though it helped that she could make them vanish.

"So, what happens now? Why does SHIELD want you involved in this? What about me? My file is in there too. What if they try to drag me back into something I don't want Tony?"

"I have no idea Lyria, I have no idea. I can promise you this my sweet angelic little sister. If SHIELD thinks they're going to do anything to you that you don't want, then they had best think again. I will have Jarvis hack into every file they have until I know every single secret they have…and if they mess with us, then I'll just have to tear them apart from the inside out."

"I'm only younger than you by like…five minutes Tony…"

"Still younger though."

Lyria smiles up at Tony as he envelops her in a warm hug, the two siblings enjoying the moment of calm before what they can only assume is going to be one massive storm.

I already warned Coulson that if they try to take you away from me I will hunt them all down and kill them in the slowest and most painfully way I can think of."

"That's my girl. Iron Man and the Amethyst Lady…together we can do damn-near anything."

The two shared a laugh and settled in to study all of the many files, images, and video clips that had been given to them. Lyria's eyes kept drifting back to the tall dark-haired man in green and gold armor, not that Tony noticed as he was in hyper-focus mode, but something about him made it hard to tear her eyes away and focus on what she needed to do.

The next day a large black flight vehicle known as a Quinjet lands on a massive SHIELD battleship called the Helicarrier. It has two runways, one with direct access to a hangar at the rear which is aligned along the spine of the vessel. Agent Coulson and Steve Rogers walk down the ramp, meeting up with Natasha.

"Agent Romanoff. Captain Rogers."

"Ma'am?"

"Hi."

She turns to Coulson for a moment before returning to speaking to Steve.

"They need you on the bridge. Face time."

"See you there."

Agent Coulson walks away leaving Steve with Natasha, the two begin walking towards the railing of the ship. Dr. Bruce Banner is standing nearby looking nervous and shifting around a lot.

"There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

Steve gives her a confused look, apparently not realizing that there were trading cards of him.

"Trading cards?"

"They're vintage, he's very proud."

Banner doesn't notice them walking away at first as he is nervous as hell being where he is. He moves around a lot, as people keep walking in his way, until he finally makes his way over to the pair.

"Dr. Banner."

Steve walks up to Banner and shakes his hands.

"Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming."

"Word is you can find the cube."

"Is that the only word on me?"

"Only word I care about."

Bruce gives Steve a somewhat grateful smile and gestures to the controlled chaos around them.

"Must be strange for you, all of this."

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar."

Natasha watches the two have their bonding moment until she hears a loud groaning noise and feels the big ship shudder slightly.

"Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath."

Suddenly the Helicarrier starts shaking a lot more as it begins to rise slightly out of the water.

"Is this is a submarine?"

Bruce looks over at Steve with an odd look on his face.

"Really? They want me in a submerged pressurized metal container?"

They both move closer to the edge of the Helicarrier. Four enormous fans mounted on the sides cause the carrier to lift into the air in flight. Steve watches in awe while Banner adopts a sarcastic smile.

"Oh, no. This is much worse!"

The bridge of the ship is a flurry of activity with dozens of agents sitting in front of their view screens and running from one spot to another. Agent Maria Hill shouts her instructions and then turns to Nick Fury, who is standing at the command center looking out over the activity.

"We're at lock, sir."

"Good. Let's vanish."

The Helicarrier rises high into the sky. The entire ship is covered in reflective panels which, when activated, cause the carrier to blend in with the sky and renders them nearly invisible. Steve and Banner walk through the glorious, gleaming bridge, as Director Nick Fury turns from his position at the central station to address them.

"Gentlemen."

Steve gives Fury 10 bucks, referring to an earlier statement about never being surprised again. Fury walks over Banner and extends his hand to Dr. Banner who reluctantly shakes it.

"Doctor, thank you for coming."

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear."

"Where are you with that?"

Nick Fury turns to Agent Coulson to explain, while Natasha Romanoff eyes an image of Agent Clint Barton, known as Hawkeye, on a computer screen.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

Natasha butts in, still eyeing the image of her partner Clint.

"That's still not gonna find them in time."

Bruce chimes in with an idea that Fury is all too willing to try as nothing else seemed to be working for them.

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?"

"How many are there?"

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please."

Natasha nods and walks off, leading Banner down the hall.

"You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys."

Fury turns to Coulson to get an update on his mission.

"Coulson? How successful were you last night?"

"They seemed interested but you know how they are…I wouldn't hold your breath Sir. I also got a threat display from a very unhappy little Lady who has no trust in us whatsoever."

"They? They who?"

"They, Captain, would be the Stark twins…Tony and Lyria."

"Howard Stark had twins? Well…I'll be. Are they doing alright then?"

"They're both billionaires so I'd say they're doing just fine in that respect."

Fury pulls up an image of the two, taken at one of Tony's many parties, and Steve could instantly see the similarities between the two and their father. Howard had been his friend and he hoped to be able to become friends with the man's children as well. As they are waiting to locate Loki using satellite facial recognition, Coulson and Steve move to stand side by side, looking out the massive windows over the sea, while Fury returns to his monitors.

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble."

"No, no. It's fine."

"It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but..."

"We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match. Wait, cross match, seventy-nine percent."

"Location?"

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse."

"He's not exactly hiding."

"Captain, you're up."

Steve nods at Fury and heads down the hall where his suit is waiting for him, though there appear to have been some upgrades. Coulson, who followed him, tells him he helped with the redesign and the improvements to his shield. Steve suits up and heads to one of the jets where Natasha is waiting for him.


	2. Chapter 2

Lyria Stark

Chapter 2

Loki stood in front of a museum, dressed in 21st century attire and with the tesseract-powered scepter disguised as a cane. He walked up to the entrance of the gala and slipped in with the crowd before heading up onto a balcony in order to locate his target. Inside was a lavish gala with a string quartet playing beautiful soothing music, and it made Lyria's ears hurt…she wanted her rock and metal not this soft crap. She was stuck at this gala because she and her brother had donated a lot of money to fund their newest wing and Tony, the lucky little bastard, had sent her so he could talk to Fury instead. She had decided to wear an ankle length gown in a beautiful lilac color with Amethyst and silver jewelry to match. Loki noticed the dark-haired beauty in the crowd, deciding that once he had subjugated these people he could claim her as his prize, but first he had work to do. The quartet was interrupted as the head Doctor walked up to the microphone to give his speech. Loki looked from above and descended down the massive staircase towards where the head Doctor was. As he made his way down the staircase he flipped his cane around to hold only one end and, when the guard there noticed him and pulled out his gun, Loki used his scepter like a club and swung it hard to hit the man and send him flying into a wall. Chaos erupted as people began fleeing the museum in fear and panic. Loki grabbed the doctor and flipped him over onto a marble table, pulling out a horrible looking device which he plunged down onto the doctor's eye. The doctor man twisted in pain until Loki finally released him. As the crowd ran away, Loki slowly walked outside and materialized in his gold and green armor with a helmet bearing curved horns. The police cars arrive and with absolutely no hesitation Loki blasts the cars with blue light, flipping them end over end and slamming them into each other. He looks out at the crowd backing away from him and speaks in a calm tone.

"Kneel before me."

The crowd ignores him and tries to flee in another direction but another Loki appears, blocking their pathway. Loki after Loki appears, all of them grinning as they raised their spears and tapped the ends hard on the ground causing a bright light to flare while they encircled the crowd.

"I said. KNEEL!"

Everyone became quiet and knelt in front him as his voice echoed out around them. Loki spread his arms out, smiling as they complied with his demand. Lyria knelt with the rest of the crowd so as not to draw attention to herself, she would wait for the right moment to act…especially since she didn't have her suit with her.

"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

As the words resonated through the kneeling crowd, an elderly German man refused to kneel any longer and stood up to face Loki. This man remembered the atrocities borne upon the innocent masses by Adolph Hitler, a man who had thought to rule others through fear and death…and he would not be the one to stand by and do nothing, not again.

"Not to men like you."

Loki gave the elderly man a slightly amused look.

"There are no men like me."

"There are always men like you."

Loki pointed his scepter at the elderly man and spoke to the kneeling people before him.

"Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example. "

Loki was about to execute him with his scepter as the light glowed blue, and the elderly man just stood there ready to face it. Lyria stood up then and let her lavender colored wings unfurl, pulling Loki's attention away from the elderly man and onto her instead. He was surprised to see the dark haired beauty he'd noticed before, though he was impressed that she had the nerve to stand up against him.

"What have we here? A little mortal woman with wings?"

"Leave that man, and the rest of these people, alone. You want to pick on someone? Pick on someone who can fight back."

Loki gave her a sinister smile and pointed his scepter at her instead, intending to hit her with a softer beam that would render her unconscious rather than kill her, but just as the energy beam shot out Captain America arrived. He dove in to crouch in front of her just in time to block the blast with his shield, knocking Loki onto his ass. The Captain stood and checked on Lyria before turning to face Loki.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

"The soldier. A man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time."

As the Captain finished speaking the Quinjet came in to hover overhead, pointing a large weapon at Loki as Natasha's voice came over the external speakers.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

Loki sent a blast of blue energy at the Quinjet and Natasha maneuvered it out of the way just in time, giving the Captain time to throw his shield at Loki. The two men both began to fight each other as Loki flung the Captain to the ground. The Captain then threw his shield, but Loki swatted it away like it was a mere toy it way. Captain America started using boxing moves to hit Loki but was knocked down. Loki stood over the crouching Captain and placed his scepter on his head, trying to push him down onto both knees to make him kneel.

"Kneel."

"Not today!"

Captain America flipped over and knocked Loki down with a leg sweep, but Loki grabbed him and flipped him over as well. Natasha tried to get a clear shot at Loki but the two men were moving too fast and she didn't want to hit the Captain by accident.

"This guy's all over the place."

Lyria flapped her wings and flew at Loki, distracting him for a moment before he threw her to the ground, though he was far gentler with her than he was with the Captain it still knocked the breath out of her lungs for a bit.

Suddenly, AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" overrode the Quinjet's speakers on the outside, and Tony's voice sounded over the headset Natasha wore.

"Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?"

Both Captain America and Loki look up at the sky as the song blasts across the courtyard. Lyria smirked at Loki as Iron Man flew down and blasted Loki right back to the ground before touching down in a crouched landing next to his sister. Iron Man stood up and pulled out every piece of weaponry his suit had, the Quinjet maneuvering in behind him and pointing its guns at him as well.

"Make a move, Reindeer Games."

Loki put up his hands and surrendered at Tony's words. His armor materialized away and returned to the suit and scarf he'd worn for the gala. Lyria had to admit it looked pretty good on him, though she'd never tell her brother that because he'd blow a gasket or something.

"Good move."

Iron Man let the weapons return to their places and turned to lift Lyria from the ground, setting her gently on her feet and checking her for any injuries.

"You alright Princess?"

"I'm fine Tony. I promise. I've taken worse hits than that."

Tony let out a small sigh of relief and hugged her before looking at the Captain. Captain America turned to Iron Man as the man let his faceplate drop and gave him a respectful nod.

"Mr. Stark."

Tony glared at the man, blaming him for their father's obsession with the super soldier serum and the fact that he'd hardly ever been there when they'd needed him. His tone was rather icy and unfriendly and it left the other man wondering what he could have done wrong when they only just met.

"Captain."

Captain America turned to Lyria and gave her a little half-bow of respect, hoping she'd be a bit less frosty than her brother.

"Miss Stark."

She was decidedly warmer towards him than her brother was as she let her faceplate drop as well. She didn't hold their father's neglect against the man because he didn't as their father to devote all of his time to the super soldier thing.

"Captain. Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise."

Loki watched as she folded her wings and they vanished, curious as to how a mortal woman could have acquired such a rare gift. He'd never really had any interest in mortal women before but this one was a stunning creature that could rival any Asgardian woman. Once they were all back in the jet and heading back to the Helicarrier they felt a bit more relaxed. Natasha watched the skies as thunder rumbles and seem to come out of nowhere. Fury speaks to her over her headset.

Said anything?

"Not a word."

"Just get him here. We're low on time."

Loki was cuffed to his seat as Tony and Steve watched him from a distance, whispering to each other while Lyria just tried to ignore them all. Loki was making it very difficult for her to ignore him with the way he stared at her, his gaze never wavering even once. She felt his gaze like a flame licking across her skin and it made her skin tingle and bump up until she finally opened her eyes and gave him a bored look, earning a raised eyebrow in return.

"I don't like it."

"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

"I don't remember it being all that easy. This guy packs a wallop."

"Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?"

"Tony…"

Lyria gave Tony a warning look while Steve just looked confused.

"What?"

"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."

"Tony…play nice."

Thunder roared as lightning nearly hit the jet, making it shake violently, and Lyria closed her eyes tightly for a moment. Tony put a hand on her shoulder to calm her but she shook him off and went to sit across from Loki, intent on not having a panic attack. Loki watched her closely, feeling the fear radiating from her as it escalated the more violent the storm became, and for some reason he felt an urge to comfort the mortal woman that left him wondering what was wrong with him. Natasha looked around in confusion at the storm that seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"Where's this coming from?"

Thunder rumbled overhead as Loki stared out the window intently, looking rather unnerved, though he did send a concerned glance at Lyria when the sound made her jump and curl up into herself even more tightly. She'd had a fear of storms since she was a little girl and almost died in one. Their father had been drunk when he picked her up from a friend's house and ran off the road, landing in a river. A passing car had seen the smoke coming from below and stopped to help, managing to get both of them out safely before the paramedics even arrived. Lyria had feared storms ever since, and it was the same reason she hated alcohol. Steve decided to mock Loki a bit for his nervousness only to have Tony glare at him angrily and motion towards his sister, which made Steve feel bad immediately.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?"

Loki's voice held a small bit of nervousness as he spoke and it made Lyria fidget in her seat across from him, thinking that anything that could make a guy like him nervous could not possibly be a good thing for the rest of them.

"I am not overly fond of what follows."

"Something tells me we won't be either…"

Tony and Steve stared at Loki and Lyria in confusion until a blinding light hit the jet. A loud thud was heard as a man dropped onto the top of the jet, landing in a crouch with a large hammer in his fist. The mighty Thor. Thor opened the jet's ramp and grabbed Loki by the throat before flying out. Steve and Tony were left staring in dumbstruck shock before Tony recovered and put the Iron Man helmet on. Lyria cursed loudly and caused Steve to look over at her in shock, not used to hearing women curse like men.

"Now there's that guy."

"Another Asgardian?"

"Think the guy's a friendly?"

"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

Tony turned and got ready to jump off the jet to chase after Thor, but Steve stopped him for a moment.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!"

"I have a plan. Attack."

Iron Man jumped out of the jet and chased after Thor. Captain America grabed a parachute and started trying to get it on as quickly as possible. Lyria watched him for a moment before calling her wings up and letting them unfurl from her back and jumping out to follow her brother down to earth. Natasha looked at Steve as she fiddled with the controls around her.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap."

"I don't see how I can."

"These guys come from legend, they're basically gods."

"There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

Captain America followed the others out of the jet while Natasha tried to find a safe place to land the thing without crashing.

As they fell to the earth Thor threw Loki into the side of the mountain as he raised the mighty hammer, Mjölnir, over his head as if to strike Loki with it. He looked down at his brother, whom he had thought to be dead and was angry to see him alive in this fashion.

"Where is the Tesseract?"

"I missed you too."

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!"

"Oh, you should be thanking me. With the Bifrost gone how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth."

Thor dropped Mjölnir, causing the mountain to quake slightly from the force of the impact. He grabbed Loki by the back of his head and brought their faces close together, the raw emotion in his eyes momentarily causing Loki's stand-offish expression to falter. Although Thor was still angry for what he had done family is everything, whether you are man or god it does not matter.

"I thought you dead."

Loki was being a little smartass and mocking his brother's sadness and anguish.

"Did you mourn?"

"We all did. Our father..."

"Your father. He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?"

Thor let go of Loki who walked away from him. Thor tried to reason with his brother, to bring him back to how he used to be, but Loki was unwilling to hear his brother's words.

"We were raised together…we played together…we fought together. Do you remember none of that?"

"I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I was and should be king!"

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights. No, the Earth is under my protection, Loki."

"And you're doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you idly fret. I mean to rule them…and why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them?"

Loki gave Thor a look as if he were a simpleton incapable of understanding basic language.

"Well, yes."

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill."

Angrily, Loki shoved his brother to the side. He walked back up to the ledge and turned back around to face Thor again.

"I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile! I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it..."

"Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be-king?"

"I am a king!"

"Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream! …and you come home."

"I don't have it. You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off I know not where."

Mjölnir flies back to his grasp.

"You listen well, brother. I..."

Thor was tackled by Iron Man going full speed and the two men ended up going right off the mountain. Loki let his sarcastic side show with a mischievous little grin.

"I'm listening."

Thor and Iron Man crashed down into a forest. Thor quickly rolled himself up as Iron Man managed to land on his feet a short distance away and opened his faceplate. Thor looked decidedly unhappy as he spoke to Iron Man in a rough tone. Iron Man, of course, let his smart mouth get the better of him as he usually does.

"Do not touch me again!"

"Then don't take my stuff."

"You have no idea what you're dealing with."

"Uh…Shakespeare in the park? Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?"

"This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice!"

"He gives up the Cube, he's all yours. Until then…stay out of my way...tourist."

Iron Man pulled his faceplate back up and turned to walk away. In one quick move Thor pulled Mjölnir back to his hand and threw it at Iron Man, knocking him into a tree. Iron Man shook his head a bit and decided he was done trying to play nice.

"Okay."

From the mountain side, Loki watched on in amusement until Lyria landed gracefully next to him and folded her wings back. His attention became distracted by the agitated female who went right up to the edge of the cliff to try and yell at her brother but realized quickly that he couldn't hear her. The sound of a dark chuckle next to her brought her attention over to the dark-haired god of mischief with a small snarl on her lips.

"What part of this is amusing to you?! You are so lucky Fury wants you in one piece."

"Oh? And why is that? You think you can actually damage me little mortal?"

"I may be small but I am not someone to be taken lightly. I can and will kick your ass if I have to Loki."

Loki stood to his full height and towered over her, his bright blue eyes flickering to green and then back to blue as he stared down at her. Lyria stood her ground and stared right back at him, refusing to be intimidated by anyone…ever. Her large lavender wings flared out behind her in a stunning display that momentarily rendered Loki speechless. He took a step back and gave her a charming smile, speaking in a silky voice that rolled over her skin like honey and made her shiver slightly…something Loki took notice of and filed away for later use. He let some of his power seep into his voice and lull her into a slight daze.

"I certainly like your attitude little mortal. All feisty fire and strong backbone…that fire inside of you makes you infinitely lovelier than any other I've encountered in this place thus far. I could make you a very happy woman you know…wealth, power, anything you desire. I can give you the world…all you need to do is surrender to me little one."

He trailed a finger along her arm and she snapped out of the daze his voice had put her in with a low growl of warning, taking a couple steps back from him as her wings flared out in agitation. She shook her head to clear it and glared at him.

"What the hell was that? Look pal…I'm not interested in being flirted with and it won't help you so just get that out of your head right now. Sit down and keep your thoughts to yourself or I'll just have to gag you so you can't use that wicked tongue of yours."

"I look forward to showing you just how wicked my tongue can me little one."

Loki gave her a seductive look but she gave disgusted eye roll, though he noticed the shiver that rolled through her body, and turned back to the fight between their brothers. Thor raised his hand and Mjölnir flew back to his hand. Thor swung the hammer, summoning a ray of energy, but Iron Man stood up and fired a blast of energy that knocked the god on his ass. Iron Man flew back up and knocked Thor into a tree. Thor, while kneeling on the ground, pulled Mjölnir to his hand and raised it to the skies to pull in lighting and thunder. Thor pointed the hammer at Iron Man and the outpouring of lightning bolts increased in intensity. Iron Man fell back as Jarvis' voice sounded in his ear.

"Power at 400% capacity."

"How about that?"

Iron Man fired at Thor from his hand boosters, pushing Thor to his knees. Like two gunslingers ready to draw, both Thor and Iron Man flew towards each other and met in the middle before flying up over the trees. The two began an aerial battle as Iron Man grabbed Thor, elbowing him and smashing him into the side of a mountain. Thor leapt off the mountain and took Iron Man with him. Thor and Iron Man crashed back down into the ground, smashing down every tree possible on the way. Iron Man yanked Thor right back up, but Thor grabbed both of his hand boosters and began to crush them. Iron Man quickly charged as much energy as he could and shot it right in Thor's face. Thor fell back, losing his balance. Iron Man head-butted Thor, with his gold-titanium alloy helmet and Thor...head-butted him back, sending Iron Man flying across the forest.

Neither of the fighting men heard the angry scream coming from the cliff above as Lyria threatened to castrate Thor if he killed her brother, which only seemed to further amuse Loki as he just sat back to watch the show.

Iron Man fired his boosters up and flew back at Thor, grabbing him by the arm and cape to swing him into another tree. Thor looked up and ran at Iron Man who swung at him and missed, giving Thor the momentum to grab him, lift him and smash him down hard into the ground. Thor summoned Mjölnir back to his hand. Just as he's about to put the hammer down on Iron Man's head the man used his hand boosters to skid across the ground and trip Thor over. Thor stood up and looked for him but Iron Man crashed into his back. Thor stood to face Iron Man yet again, ready to pounce...but Captain America's shield ricocheted off both Thor and Iron Man, stopping them in their tracks as their attention turned to the spangle suited man. They looked up to see Captain America standing on top of a fallen tree with the shield back in hand.

"Hey! That's enough!"

"Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here."

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!"

"Then prove it! Put the hammer down."

"Um, yeah, no! Bad call! He loves his hammer!"

Thor backhanded Iron Man with his massive hammer and lifted it back up as he nearly growled at Captain America.

"You want me to put the hammer down?"

Thor leapt high into the air, raising that hammer over his head. Captain America crouched down and held up his shield as Thor brought the hammer down onto the shield and a massive explosion of light reacted to the Vibranium shield creating a massive shockwave that blew up anything standing within a mile radius of the men. Iron Man stood up first, looking around like `holy shit', and lying right next to him was Captain America who kept his eyes on Thor. Thor looked at both men, ready to go again, until an unhappy female voice interrupted the male staring contest. Lyria landed softly in the large clearing the men had made, having left Loki handcuffed in the back of the Jet with Natasha standing guard over him. She folded her wings back and crossed her arms.

"Are we done with the dick measuring contest now?"

Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man all turned to look at Lyria who was glaring at the three men…though mostly Tony and Thor who both had the grace to look ashamed of themselves.

If you are quite finished trying to kill my brother perhaps we can all act like adults and talk this out calmly back on the Helicarrier?"

"My apologies My Lady…I was unaware a woman was present or I would have been more careful."

"Not what I asked big guy. Can we go now? Loki is back in the jet and Natasha is guarding him alone. I don't trust him alone with anyone with that voice of his."

Thor gave her a calculating look and followed her back to the jet, Tony and Steve following a bit slower behind. When they finally got back to the jet Thor glared at Loki who merely gave him an unrepentant shrug and ignored his brother in favor of watching Lyria. Lyria did her best to ignore the god of mischief, choosing to turn her attention to getting Tony out of his armor and checking his injuries. Thor winced as each piece of armor removed revealed bruises, making him feel a bit bad for what he'd done. Lyria reached into her little bag, which had somehow survived everything, and pulled out a small jar of purple cream which she started to massage into each bruise as Tony whined at her about the pain.

"Suck it up buttercup. I'm almost done you big baby…hold the fuck still."

They finally made it to the Helicarrier and Tony immediately packed his armor pieces into a big sack. They all headed to the main meeting table on the bridge while Loki was escorted by a security team to a special holding cell.


	3. Chapter 3

Lyria Stark

Chapter 3

Lyria and the others watch on a monitor as Fury walks up to a control panel in front of the large glass cylinder that Loki is being held in and speaks to the god of mischief who just looks amused.

"In case it's unclear. You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass…"

Fury presses a button which opens up a hatch underneath Loki's cell. Loki peers as much as he can from the glass.

"Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?!"

Fury closes the hatch and then points at Loki.

"Ant."

Then motions to the control panel which would drop Loki into the ocean below.

"Boot."

"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard."

Loki looks into the camera while the others watch on the monitor. Banner looks at the monitor, intently, not entirely sure which angle Loki is going to try and take with him, though he ends up showing amusement when Loki makes his jab at him.

"The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill `cause its fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh. It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is."

Fury gave Loki an amused look and let a little sarcasm show before walking away and leaving Loki alone in his glass cell.

"Well, you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something."

Loki looks back at the camera with a wicked little smirk and Lyria snorts in amusement. Steve watches until the monitor goes black while Thor, who didn't even watch he just listened, stands there feeling torn apart inside. They just stand there feeling awkward until Bruce lets his sarcastic side out to play a bit.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

Steve sighed softly and turned to Thor with a questioning look on his face.

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?"

Thor seemed to come out of a daze as Steve spoke to him and leaned forward to give them more information.

"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

Steve has a serious yet dubious look on his face. He's having a hard time coping with everything that is different from his time and it shows.

"An army? From outer space?"

Bruce speaks up, having had a realization after Thor spoke.

"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

Thor sends Bruce a questioning look upon hearing that name.

"Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

Thor looks saddened by this news and blames himself for not being able to better protect his friend. Natasha gives him a slightly sympathetic look, knowing how he's feeling at that moment.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours."

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here."

Steve still seems unnerved by how easily Loki allowed himself to be captured, and to be honest Lyria is concerned about that as well. She'd seen his strength and knew he could have easily taken her out up on that mountain and fled while the others fought over him but he'd sat there and watched, even bantering with her a bit.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."

Bruce is clearly not seeing Loki as a threat like Lyria and Steve are, but Lyris knows there is little she could do to convince him unless he saw it firsthand like she did. Thor, however, did not take kindly to Bruce insulting his brother…regardless of how crazy he was acting.

"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

Natasha gave Thor a bland look and spoke in a flat tone.

"He killed eighty people in two days."

Thor gave her a slightly sheepish look and his voice held the same feeling.

"He's adopted."

Lyria gave Thor a harsh glare that caused the big man to back up a step in surprise. He was unsure as to why she suddenly seemed so hostile.

"Adopted?"

"Yes…My father brought him home as an infant after he'd been abandoned."

"Oh god…he didn't tell Loki that did he?"

"Of course he did…though not until very recently. We grew up believing we were truly brothers by birth. Loki was raised to believe he would become king one day. Though our father told him that is not possible because he is not…well…"

"Oh for fuck's sake! No wonder he's snapped. Do you even hear what you're saying? You father raised him to become king and then yanked it out from under him and dumped the truth of his birth on him at the same time. Do you have any idea what that kind of stress and trauma can do to people?"

Thor was taken aback by the amount of anger the small woman was showing towards a man who had essentially declared war on her world. Bruce interrupted before Lyria could start a fight with Thor just as Tony came into the room with Coulson beside him.

"Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent."

Tony answered Bruce's question and then turned to Coulson, murmuring to him in a softer tone while keeping an eye on a still-fuming Lyria.

"I'll fly you there. Keep the love alive. Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD."

Tony slapped Thor on the back as he passed him.

"No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing."

Tony went to his sister's side and wrapped his arms around her from behind in a hug, letting her sink back against him and helping her calm back down.

"Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants. Oh, and Thor…something you need to understand about my sister. She spends a great deal of time working with orphans and adopted children. She helps them settle into their new families and for the younger ones she teaches the families the best way and time to tell the kids about being adopted. It's kind of a big deal for her so tread carefully on that topic alright? If you make her mad I will not hold her back."

Tony turned and went to Fury's control center and started making an idiot of himself, which earned him a happy little laugh from Lyria and made it all worth it in his mind.

"Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails. That man is playing GALAGA! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did."

He put one hand over one eye and tried turning to see the different screens. He spoke to Agent Hill who replied in a bored tone.

"How does Fury do this?"

"He turns."

Tony plants a tiny hacking device on the panel and turns back to the group with a couple snaps of his fingers.

"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube."

Agent Hill agve Tony a confused and skeptical look.

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

Lyria clears her throat and gives Tony a pointed look. He rolls his eyes and points his thumb in her direction.

"Aside from my sister of course…"

She looked appeased as Steve spoke up.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"

Bruce chimed in with science talk that clearly only Tony and Lyria understood, judging from the blank stares everyone else gave him. He and Tony began a back and forth Science banter that left everyone else in the room confused, except Lyria who was just amused by the whole thing.

"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English."

Steve looked completely lost and Lyria giggled slightly at his bewildered look, causing him to turn and give her a crooked little grin that she though made him look like a little kid for a moment…a very muscular little kid.

"Is that what just happened?"

Tony and Bruce shake hands, their eyes shining with a mutual respect and love of science.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"Thanks."

Fury walks in and interrupts whatever else tony was about to say.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him."

Again Steve speaks up, and Lyria personally thinks he makes a great point, but Director Fury doesn't seem to be as enthusiastic about it…though he does agree.

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

Thor looks completely confused while Steve gets all excited about finally understanding something that was said, his face lights up like a little kid at Christmas.

"Monkeys? I do not understand."

"I do! I understood that reference."

Tony rolls his eyes, while Steve looks proud of himself. Lyria gently smacks her brother's arm and gives him a look that makes him keep his thoughts to himself…at least while she's standing there.

"Shall we play, doctor?"

"Let's play some."

As Bruce and Tony walk out, the Galaga player turns ever so discreetly and watches as everyone else disperses…and goes back to playing his game. Lyria notices and rolls her eyes before heading out herself. While Tony and Bruce head for the labs she heads down to where Loki is being held, feeling an urge to go there that she couldn't explain but couldn't fight either.

In the lab Bruce continuously scans the scepter with a gamma ray detection scanner looking for radiation. Tony looks at his monitors, shifting and solving as many algorithms and equations as he can fit on the screen.

"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process."

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this at around six hundred teraflops."

Bruce gives him an amused look and Tony shrugs.

"…and all I packed was a tooth brush."

"You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it, its candy land."

"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of…broke...Harlem."

"Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises."

Suddenly, Tony pokes Banner with a miniature electrical prod while Steve walks in on them, getting pissed off at Tony. An argument soon starts as Tony and Steve butt heads, and not for the last time either.

"OW!"

Tony looks at Banner closely.

"Nothing?"

"Hey! Are you nuts?"

"Jury's out. You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"

"Is everything a joke to you?"

"Funny things are."

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, doctor."

"No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."

"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut."

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark."

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"You think Fury's hiding something?"

"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too, isn't it?"

"Uh...I just wanna finish my work here and..."

"Doctor?"

"A warm light for all mankind, Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"I heard it."

"Well, I think that was meant for Tony. Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news."

"The Stark Tower? That big ugly…"

Tony gives him a look and Steve changes what he was going to say, attempting to be diplomatic.

"...building in New York?"

"It's powered by Stark Reactors, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?"

"That's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now."

"Exactly. So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files."

"I'm sorry, did you say...?"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide."

Tony holds out a bag of blueberries towards Steve, who ignores the offer.

"Blueberry?"

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?"

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible."

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have our orders…we should follow them."

"Following's not really my style."

"And you're all about style, aren't you?"

"Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?"

"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?"

Steve takes in the possibility, but as an obedient soldier he shakes it off.

"Just find the cube."

Steve walks out of the lab, but he's still torn by the possibility that something isn't right. After he leaves Tony and Bruce resume their conversation and light banter.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice."

"The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us."

"What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit."

"It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does."

"And I'll read all about it."

"Uh-huh. Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us."

"Ah, see. I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart."

Tony points at the mini Arc Reactor in his chest

"This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armor. It's a... terrible privilege."

"But you can control it."

"Because I learned how."

"It's different."

Banner tries to read the computer screen, but Tony slides the data aside with his finger so the two can be face-to-face. Tony's voice is surprisingly soft and gentle.

"Hey, I've read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"So you're saying that the Hulk... the other guy... saved my life? That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"

"I guess we'll find out."

Bruce and Tony get back to work at their respective computers, though Bruce gives him on odd glance now and then.

"You might not like that."

"You just might."

Thor and Coulson are in a room near the bridge, looking out over the water. They're just finishing a discussion as Fury walks in and joins them.

"When I first came to earth, Loki's rage followed me here and your people paid the price…and now again. In my youth I courted war."

"War hasn't started yet. You think you can make Loki tell us what the Tesseract is?"

"I do not know. Loki's mind is far afield. It is not just power he craves, it is vengeance upon me. There's no pain that would prize his need from him."

"A lot of guys think that, until the pain starts."

"What are you asking me to do?"

"I'm asking. What are you prepared to do?"

"Loki is a prisoner..."

"Then why do I feel like he's the only person on this boat that wants to be here?"

Thor doesn't answer. Coulson clears his throat to get Fury's attention and points to a monitor where Natasha is fleeing Loki's containment area after he said some extremely harsh things to her about Barton. He let slip that Banner was a part of his plan so she ran towards the lab, the other's following suit and leaving Loki unmonitored as Lyria slipped into the massive room. Loki was pacing the glass cylinder until he noticed her and stopped. He turned to face her and got right up next to the glass, his bright green/blue eyes piercing into her.

"So now they send you to try and pry information from me?"

"No. No one sent me…Fury will probably yell at me once he finds out I'm in here. I just…I needed to see…"

"You needed to see what little one? See the monster in person? Well, look your fill then."

"No! Stop saying things like that. You're not a monster Loki…I refuse to believe that. I listened to some of the things Thor said and…well…I'm pretty sure I'd be killed if I hit your father for being an idiot."

Loki blinked at her for a moment and then let out a soft laughter that made her skin tingle, his eyes gazing at her with a sort of fondness she hadn't expected from him.

"You are truly an interesting creature. You would threaten the King of Asgard for his handling of his so-called son?"

"You have no idea what I'm willing to do Loki. I spend most of my free time working with orphans, helping them find loving families and helping those families learn to help them. I do not take kindly to anyone who would take in a child and then hurt them the way your father has done with you."

"He is NOT my Father!"

"Alright…he's not your father then. What of his wife? Was she good to you?"

"Frigga was…and still is…the greatest thing I have ever had in my life."

"At least one of them was a good parent to you then."

"She taught me how to use magic…the one solace in my life."

Lyria smiled softly as his face lit up while talking about the woman who had raised him as her own. That was how it should be, but clearly Odin needed to learn a few things. Loki noticed her soft smile and gave her a curious look.

"Why do you look at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"All soft and caring…do you not know what I have done? What I still plan to do?"

"I know…and I don't care. I'm a firm believer in second and even third or fourth chances. I nearly died as a child because my father was a drunken idiot and crashed the car into a river because he was speeding in a thunderstorm. I still hate storms and I can't go near a river. The ocean is fine but not a river. Tony tried to help by calling in the best therapists money could buy but nothing has worked yet."

Loki watched her, his eyes softening as he listened to her soft voice. At least he knew now why she feared the storm back on the jet, and again he felt that urge to comfort her only this time he chose not to fight it.

"Once I am free from here I will help you little one. I can get you past that fear you have."

"I doubt it Loki…first you'd have to get free from that contraption…plus I don't think it's something that can be fixed. I don't know why you're so intent on destroying my home and enslaving my kind…but I really wish you wouldn't. This persona you've tried to hold up for everyone to see doesn't suit you Loki…you are much better suited in the role of a kind gentleman…helping other with that magic of yours instead of hurting. That was always how I'd pictured you from what I read in the myths the Norse left behind…a mischievous but still kind god. What happened to that figure hmm?"

She watched as Loki's eyes widened at her words and he placed his hands on the glass, right over top of where hers had come to rest as they'd talked. His eyes shifted to a stunning shade of green and she held her breath as a thought came into her mind, though she had to phrase it carefully to avoid losing him again.

"Loki? Is someone…trying to harm you?"

"Harm me? Threaten maybe…not harm…not yet. Not if my plans work…"

"So…someone else wants you to do all of this? Who…and why?"

"It does not matter little one. I will not tell you his name for I will not allow him to come near you. There is something special…something entirely precious about you. You are unique, beautiful, fierce, and fearless…well…almost fearless."

She snorted softly at him as he gave her an almost boyish grin at the end. Her eyes sparkled at him, thoroughly enjoying their flirtatious banter.

"Is that so? Do you want to know what I see when I look at you Loki?"

Loki held his breath and gave a slight nod, trying to hide the slight nervousness that she managed to bring out in him and he ruthlessly tried to suppress.

"I see someone who was wronged by a man he trusted, pushed aside by those who should have protected him…someone who grew into a breathtaking figure with a power none of his peers could match or understand…someone who tried to help but was ridiculed and pushed away…someone who retaliated and lashed out when it all became too much to bear and was outcast for it. Loki…you deserve to have someone to care for you, someone who won't be intimidated by your temper and who'll be there for you."

"…and you deserve to be treated like a queen little one."

"Lyria…my name is Lyria."

"Lyria…a beautiful name…it suits you."

Loki's voice was soft and Lyria felt herself warming to him even more as he looked at her with longing. While they were talking Fury walked into the lab, surprised to see that Tony and Bruce had stopped working on the scepter. This made him more than a bit angry.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?"

"Uh...kind of been wondering the same thing about you."

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

Bruce piped in to try and keep Fury's…fury down to a normal level.

"We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss."

Tony turns to one of his monitors as it beeps and shows him a secret SHIELD file. He turns to Fury looking a bit unnerved.

"What is PHASE 2?"

Steve comes in just as Tony asks that and drops a HYDRA assault rifle on the table causing Fury, Bruce and Tony to turn around. Steve looks angry and kind of betrayed.

"Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons."

He turns to Tony with a halfway apologetic look.

"Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're..."

Tony interrupted Fury and turned his screen to show SHIELD weapon plans involving the Tesseract.

"I'm sorry, Nick…what were you lying?"

Steve gave Director Fury a disappointed look.

"I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit."

At that moment, Thor and Natasha walk into the lab. Natasha keeps her eyes on Banner who looks back at her. He looks pissed off and it clearly makes her nervous and twitchy.

"Did you know about this?"

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?"

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

Fury butts in and points at Thor.

"Because of him."

Thor looks confused.

"Me?"

"Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet."

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?"

"You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?"

"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something."

Tony chimed in with his usual smartassery.

"Nuclear deterrent. `Cause that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"

Steve tried to calm things down but only succeeded in pissing Tony off…again.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep…"

"Wait! Wait! Hold on! How is this now about me?"

"I thought humans were more evolved than this."

"Excuse me, did WE come to YOUR planet and blow stuff up?"

"Did you always give your champions such mistrust?"

"Are you all really that naive?"

As the argument escalate, none of them realize that the blue gem on Loki's scepter is glowing brightly. Their egos keep rubbing off each other and fueling the flames of their anger.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos."

"It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time-bomb."

"You need to step away."

Tony throws an arm around Steve.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"

Steve shoves Tony off and glares at him.

"You know damn well why! Back off!"

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me."

"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. Yeah, I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire."

"Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!"

Back in the lab, Steve puffs up his chest at Tony, who just stands there, unmoving.

"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds."

Thor laughs at Tony and Steve as they go back and forth.

"You people are so petty... and tiny."

Tony rubs his head and moves away from Steve a bit.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort back to his..."

"Where? You rented my room, remember?"

"The cell was just in case..."

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I tried! I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out!"

Bruce paused as everyone looked at him in shock.

"So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!"

Banner slowly gets upset as he looks at Natasha, who gets unnerved.

"You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

Fury and Natasha both put their hands down on their guns, ready to draw and fire…not that it would do them any good.

"Doctor Banner... put down the scepter."

Bruce looks down and is shocked to see that he's holding the scepter in his hands. The computer beeps and they all turn to it. Tony gives Bruce a triumphant look.

"Got it."

Bruce puts down the scepter and walks over to the computer, joining Tony in trying to figure out the readings.

"Sorry, kids. Guess you don't get to see my little party trick after all."

Thor speaks but is mostly ignored as Tony and Steve start up again.

"You've located the Tesseract?"

"I can get there faster."

"Look, all of us..."

Thor tried to interject again, but again he was ignored.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it."

Tony turns to leave, but Steve stops him.

"You're not going alone!"

"You gonna stop me?"

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit."

At that moment Banner who's looking at the monitor notices something about the Tesseract.

"Uh…guys…?"

A sudden explosion rocks the carrier and everyone is thrown in every direction. Steve, Fury, Thor and Tony are thrown across the room while Natasha and Bruce end up being dropped down into the lower equipment room. Steve looks up at Tony as he pushes himself up off the floor.

"Put on the suit!"

"Yep!"

Steve helps Tony up and out of the lab, heading for Tony's suit as quickly as they can move. Fury sits up, clutching his ribs as they protest the movement, and puts on his earpiece.

"Hill?!"

Agent Hill came back over the earpiece, sounding calm but with a hint of alarm in her voice.

"We lose one more engine and we won't be airborne much longer. Somebody's got to get inside and patch that engine."

Fury yells over the earpiece to Tony.

"Stark! You copy that?!"

"I'm on it!"

"Coulson! Initiate official lock down in the detention section then get to the armory! Move out!"

Toyn and Steve run through a corridor and pause outside of a room.

"Find engine three. I'll meet you there."

Steve heads off to do that while Tony enters a tech room where his suit is waiting for him. He speaks through his earpiece as he suddenly realizes who wasn't in the lab with them.

"Hey! Anyone got eyes on my sister?"

"Negative Stark. No one's seen her since the meeting."

"Fuck! Someone find her Damnit. Keep her safe."

"We'll do our best Stark."

Tony doesn't even know who was answering him as he raced to get his suit on to go help Steve. Back in the detention area Lyris is thrown to the ground hard, hitting her head on the control panel as the carrier is hit. She barely manages to keep a hold on consciousness as Loki steps right through the glass wall of his cell. Her eyes widen as she realizes he could have escaped at any time he chose. Loki bends down and lifts her up into his arms, frowning when she groans softly at the movement.

Fury runs onto the bridge and sees the chaos has increased even more than before. The helmsman is in complete panic mode and Fury barks out an order, making the guy look at him in confusion.

"Bring the carrier inwards and head south. Take us to the water."

"Why water? Navigations recalibrated after the engine failure."

"Is the sun coming up?!"

"Yes, sir."

"Then put it on the left! Get us over water! One more turbine goes down and we drop."

Back outside the carrier Tony and Steve were in the area of Engine number 3 and trying to figure out what to do to fix it…well Tony was…Steve was just trying to figure out what the hell Tony was talking about. Tony observes the damaged engine on his suit's viewscreen and looks at the layout and specs.

"I gotta get this super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors and work on dislodging the debris."

Tony gets the worst of the debris off of the outside and begins pulling on the stuck rotors. When that fails he looks over at Steve.

"I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position.

Tony flies into the giant cooling conductors while Steve jumps over to the other side of the broken railing. He gets himself to the control panel and opens it up. He looks inside with utter confusion on his face. He thought technology was complicated back in his time…but this was ridiculous.

"What's it look like in there?"

Steve shot back a sarcastic reply and Tony snorted softly.

"It seems to run on some form of electricity."

"Well, you're not wrong."

Tony blasts bits of debris from the inside of the rotors. They're damaged but not completely beyond repair.

"The relays are intact. What's our next move?"

"Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push."

"Stark…if that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded!"

"Then stay in the control unit and reverse polarity long enough to disengage mag..."

"Speak English!"

"See that red lever? It'll slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it, wait for my word."

Steve looks over at the other side where he was. He sees the red lever and jumps towards it. Tony laser cuts a big piece of broken metal and then jumps on it, relieving the rotors. On the other side, Barton's men enter the port side and Steve looks down, wondering if they are there to help. Evidently not as they begin shooting at him and throwing grenades. Steve jumps to the other railing and down with Barton's men. He begins to take them down, even going as far as throwing one off the carrier entirely. A few more enter, firing at him, and Steve grabs one of the fallen guns and starts firing back. Tony begins to push the rotor using the boosters in his boots. Fury's voice sounds off in his ear and Tony quips back with his usual sarcasm.

"Stark, we're losing altitude."

"Yeah. Noticed."

The rotors start propelling faster and faster as Tony's boosters get brighter. Outside the rotors Steveis still fighting Barton's men and chooses the wrong moment to blink. He gets knocked off the railing but grabs a cable to keep from falling off the carrier.

Back in the detention center Thor rns in to see one of the men letting Loki out of his glass cell.

"NO!"

Thor charges at his brother and goes right through him, ending up inside the cell as the false Loki fades away and the real one stalks out of the shadows, cradling the semi-conscious Lyria against his body with one arm as he uses the other to push the button that seals Thor inside the chamber.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?"

Thor, in a fit of anger, slams Mjolnir into the glass door. To his surprise, the cell door only cracks, but violently shakes the entire ship. Loki stands there looking a bit cautious at first, as does his guarding soldier, but he smiles when the hammer proves to be ineffective at aiding Thor's escape.

"The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?"

The soldier with Loki suddenly crumples to the ground as Coulson steps into the room holding one of the Phase 2 weapons.

"Move away, please."

Loki moves away from the switch, but keeps Lyria pulled tight against his body.

"You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent THE DESTROYER. Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?

Coulson realizes who Loki is holding when she lets out a soft whimper of pain.

"Let her go Loki. Give her to me so she can get medical help."

Loki actually lets out a soft growl, shocking Thor completely as he'd never seen his brother become so defensive over anyone before, not even their mother. A Loki double appears behind Coulson and stabs him in the chest. Thor screams at Loki.

"Nooo!"

Loki's double throws Agent Coulson against the wall where the man slumps down, his breathing fast and labored. Loki makes his way to the control switch and gives his brother one last look. Thor looks at him, with a hopeful expression until Loki opens the hatch. Thor still hopes Loki will change his mind and see reason but Loki pushes the button and drops Thor out of the carrier. Loki feels a little remorse as he looks down but he pushes it aside and turns to leave. Coulson's weak voice stops him.

"You're gonna lose."

"Am I?"

"It's in your nature."

"Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky, and I have Iron Man's little sister in my grasp...where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

"I don't think I..."

Coulson shoots Loki with the prototype weapon and it blasts him clear into the next room through the steel wall.

"So that's what it does."

He hated having to do that while the man was holding Lyria but he felt he had no choice. Loki managed to use his own body to protect Lyria from the impact so she would not sustain any further injury, though she did get the breath knocked out of her momentarily. Loki gathers himself and manages to escape in one of the Quinjets, a single Guard with him to fly the thing. He lays Lyria across a seat with her head in his lap as he assesses the damage done to her. He is relieved that she only has a few bruises and a small bump on her head. He sees his scepter on another seat and smiles…his plan was working as he'd expected…tough he was agitated about losing Barton he now had Lyria. She more than made up for it in his opinion.

Back at engine 3 Tony is continuously spinning the rotors, giving it everything his suit has to offer. The rotors start moving at proper speed and Tony gives Steve the signal as the carrier starts to level back out.

"Cap, I need the lever!"

"I need a minute here!"

"Lever. Now!"

Tony lets go of the rotors now that they are spinning on their own but gets caught by one. He ends up being knocked around like a pinball. Steve climbs up the cable and manages to get back onto the railing, making it to the lever and pulling it. Tony falls out of the engine, his suit heavily damaged but he's not injured inside…just a bit bruised.

Fury runs into the detention room, finding Agent Coulson still alive but barely. He looks worse for wear and is coughing up blood.

"Sorry, boss. They got away with Loki...and he took…Lyria Stark…with him…she was…unconscious."

"It's alright. We'll get her back. Just stay awake. EYES ON ME!"

"No. I'm clocked out here."

"Not an option."

"It's okay, boss. This was never going to work... if they didn't have something... to...

Agent Coulson looks away and sighs out his last breath. Nick Fury looks on grimly at Coulson as the medical team finally arrives too late to help. Fury speaks into his headset so everyone can hear him.

"Agent Coulson is down."

"Paramedics are on their way."

"They're here. They called it."

Fury gets Tony and Steve and they head back into the briefing room where everyone else is waiting with looks of numb shock on their devastated faces.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them."

Fury tosses Coulson's blood-stained Captain America trading cards onto the table in front of Steve who gently picks them up.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes.

Tony gets up and starts to walk off, not wanting to hear it anymore, but Fury stops him with a few words that freeze his blood in his veins.

"Stark…Loki took Lyria with him. I'm sorry. Coulson died trying to get her back."

Everyone looks at Tony as his body tenses up with barely controlled emotion. When Steve tries to put a hand on his shoulder Tony slaps it away and bolts out of the room. Steve goes to follow Tony, worried about the man who seemed to be very devoted to his little sister.

"Well, it's an old fashioned notion."

Fury just walks back to the bridge as Natasha leaves to go and check on Barton. She'd knocked him out during the attack and he seemed to come back to himself when she did…she hoped so because they were going to need him if they were going to stop Loki. Steve found Tony looking at the empty glass cell that Loki had been in. He stands there not saying a word as Steve walks in.

"Was he married?"

"No. There was a uh...cellist, I think."

"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man."

"He was an idiot."

"Why? For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone."

"He was doing his job."

"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..."

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

"Right. How did that work for him?"

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

"WE ARE NOT SOLDIERS! I am not marching to Fury's fife!"

"Neither am I! He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list..."

"He made it personal. That little bastard took my sister…I promised to always keep her safe and now she's in the clutches of that psychopath."

"That's not the point."

"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart. Look I don't know if it it'll help any but there's a recording of her talking to him just before everything went to hell in a handbasket. You should watch it…it might put your mind at ease a bit. He doesn't seem to want to hurt her at least."

"I watched it…not helping much honestly. HLoki had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right, I caught his act at Stuttengard."

"Yeah. That's just a preview, this is opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered...Sonofabitch!"

Tony darts out of the room and flies off, yelling Stark Tower back at Steve who then rund to find Natasha. When he walks in Natasha looks at him.

"Time to go."

"Go where?"

"I'll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?"

Barton walks out of the restroom and looks over at him.

"I can."

Steve looks at Natasha and she nods her head to confirm that Barton's on their side.

"You got a suit?"

"Yeah."

"Then suit up. Stark is already way ahead of us."

Natasha gives Steve a questioning look.

"Why? He wasn't all that excited about it before so why now?"

"Loki took his sister Lyria."

Natasha's eyes widen slightly and she nods, understanding now why Tony shot off without backup. Once Clint is suited up the three head to one of the Quinjets where a young pilot tries to stop them.

"You are not authorized to be here..."

Steve holds up a hand as Natasha and Clint walk right past the young man, and then follows them.

"Son... just don't."

Fury watches from the bridge as the jet takes off, knowing full well who was inside. He'd already watched Iron Man shoot off like a rocket out of hell. Agent Hill joined him as they observed.


	4. Chapter 4

Lyria Stark Chapter 4

A/N: I had this entire story done and ready to post but My computer died and I hadn't backed it up so I lost a lot of stuff…so I'm finally getting around to finishing this one and a couple others so I can start some new stories.

Tony flew towards his tower at full speed, determined to get to his little sister before Loki could hurt her too badly. Steve, Natasha, and Clint contacted him once they were finally airborne and Tony's snark made an appearance.

"We're in the air Stark."

"Finally! What happened? Did you guys stop for food on the way out?"

"Funny Stark…let's just focus on getting to Loki before all hell breaks loose."

"Already on it."

Tony landed on the platform outside of his tower, seeing Loki just below on the balcony watching him. He let the machinery remove the damaged armor from him as he headed inside and came face-to-face with the blue-eyed monster that had taken his little sister.

"Where is she Loki?"

"She is safe Stark. I will not allow any harm to come to her…by anyone or anything."

"Why do you care so much about what happens to her anyway?"

"She is special…she should be treasured and revered…a queen."

"I can't say I disagree with that, but what makes you think that she wants that? She hates attention, hates being the spotlight…she's basically my opposite in that respect."

The two began to banter back and forth until Loki attempted to control Tony's mind, failing because the Arc reactor stopped the scepter from touching him.

"This usually works…"

"Well…impotence isn't uncommon…one in five…"

Loki snarled at Tony and threw him to the ground hard. He was about to attack him again but stopped short and froze in place as a small hand wrapped around his wrist, just above where he held the scepter in his hand. He turned his head to see Lyria looking at him with such a soft, trusting expression that he just fell apart at her feet. Loki sunk to the floor, dropping the scepter as Lyria pulled him into her arms and whispered soothing words to him as he broke down and finally let all of his hurt and aguish leave him. Tony looked away, feeling uncomfortable at seeing anyone break down like that…though, from what his sister had told him of her conversation with Thor, this had probably been a long time coming.

"I'm sorry Little One. I'm so sorry. I didn't want this…I can't stop it…can't stop him…he'll destroy everything…"

"Shh…hush now Loki. It'll be alright. We'll stop him…together…all of us."

Tony looked out the window as strange creatures on flying crafts of some sort started pouring into the city. He sighed softly and gave Lyria a pointed look.

"Lyria? Please stay in the tower…I have to go help the others fight these things but I need to know that you're safe ok? Please?"

"I'll stay here as long as I can stand it but I can't make it a promise Tony. If I feel the need to help I will."

"Fair enough…just…stay with Loki alright? He actually wants to keep you safe so stay with him."

"I will…he needs someone to actually give a damn about him and I can be that someone Tony. His mother has been the only one to care about him, truly care about him as a person, his entire life."

"Just be careful my angel."

"I always am."

Tony snorted at her comment and she giggled softly because they both knew it wasn't true. She had always been a magnet for danger and she was as much of an adrenaline junkie as he was. Tony called his newest suit, one that he had designed to lock onto a set of bracelets he had put on and come to him wherever he was, and took off from the balcony to join the fight. Lyria pulled back a bit from Loki so she could look at him more closely, smiling softly at seeing his pretty green eyes.

"Alright…we need to close that portal somehow so lets take this…thing…up to the roof and see what we can figure out alright? Will you help me do that?"

"Yes Little One…I will always help you, and protect you…as long as I'm able."

Loki stood and pulled her up with him, only then taking in the full view of her outfit. When she had woken she had changed out of her dirty and torn clothing. She had chosen a dress that she had never actually worn before but it had been in a store that Pepper had dragged her to once and when she saw it she couldn't stop thinking about it, Pepper had gotten Tony to buy it for her for her birthday after having seen her staring at it so long in the store.

"You changed your clothing Little One…you look…stunning."

Lyria smiled and did a little spin to show off the dress, only to grab onto Loki's arm when the room spun for a moment. Loki held onto her to keep her upright, trying very hard not to stare at her chest and failing miserably. The dress was a brilliant emerald color and had swirling gold designs all over it. The solid color stopped about mid-thigh and the rest was a floaty, sheer fabric which also flowed from her shoulders to her hands. The dress was molded to her curves and emphasized her bosom, which Loki was most certainly not going to complain about, and she had not put on any sort of shoes so he could see her dainty little feet. Loki placed her hand on his arm and the two made their way up the stairs, having to go slowly as Lyria was still a bit dizzy from hitting her head earlier on the Hellicarrier. When they finally made it to the roof Lyria froze in horror at seeing all of the creatures flying around.

"What are those horrid things?"

"The Chitauri…they work for him…"

Lyris gently put down the scepter she'd carried up and took Loki's face in her hands, his upset expression making her want to comfort him."

"Look at me Loki. This is not your fault. He overpowered you in a moment of weakness and tortured you past your breaking point. He took advantage of you after weakening you. This is all on him…not you."

He had told her the entire story, unable to lie to her or hide anything when she clearly cared so much already. Loki had fallen from the Bifrost and into the abyss, only to land in the realm of a titan known as Thanos. The creature and his, lackey, had tortured Loki constantly, wearing him down and weakening his mind until he was willing to do anything to stop the pain. Now it had come to this and Loki had no idea how to fix what Thanos had wrought through him.

"We'll fix it somehow…we'll find a way."

Lyria turned as Tony flew up past the tower, her eyes widening in horror when she realized what he was carrying on his back. She recognized the thing as one of Shield's missiles and felt her blood boil in anger that they would dare loose a missile on a city full of innocent civilians. When Tony flew through the portal Lyria held her breath, waiting and waiting for him to fly back out…only he didn't.

"Tony…"

Her voice sounded so small and frightened that Loki immediately wrapped her in his arms as Natasha, whom neither had noticed landing on the roof earlier as they were too focused on each other, thrust the scepter through the barrier surrounding the tesseract while talking into her earpiece.

"I can close it…Stark is still in there…I…understood."

"What are you doing?! My brother isn't out yet! Stop it…Natasha please?!"

"I have no choice Lyria…we have to close it before more of them come through, or the explosion does."

"He's all I have in this world Natasha…please don't…"

As Natasha set the portal to close Lyria collapsed against Loki, tears running down her cheeks as the other woman gave her a sad, sympathetic look. She hated having to do that but Steve was right…they had to close it. Natasha let out a soft gasp as tony came out of the portal at the last possible second and Lyria stood up to wait for him to come to her. Except…he didn't turn in her direction and he wasn't slowing down at all.

"He's unconscious…"

She unfurled her wings and took to the sky, making a beeline for her falling brother and grabbing onto him, only to realize he was too heavy with his suit on for her to use her wings to slow their momentum. She nearly cried in relief as the Hulk grabbed onto them and brought them safely to the ground, using his own big green body to shield them from the impact. Loki grabbed Natasha and Selvig before teleporting them all to the ground nearby, putting his hands up as Steve and Clint turned to him with their weapons raised. Natasha stepped between him and them, giving Clint a hard look.

"Let him be Clint…he's only here for Lyria's sake. Let him go to her."

Clint grumbled a bit but lowered his bow and let Loki pass, though he was still glaring at him. Loki knelt at Lyria's side as she whimpered softly. Tony wasn't waking up and is arc reactor had gone dark. When the Hulk roared Tony's heart jumpstarted and he woke up with a harsh gasp of air.

"What the hell?!"

He looked up at his sister's tear-stained face and lifted a shaky hand to wipe them away. She placed a trembling hand on his chest and gently smacked his forehead.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again Tony."

"Sorry, My angel. I had to stop that thing before it could kill everyone in the city…including you."

"I know."

"Please tell me nobody kissed me…"

Lyria laughed and shook her head at him as he and Steve began a light banter that had all of them smiling. Once they had all recovered a bit more they headed to a nearby restaurant that Tony had seen and got Shwarma, which the owners gave to them for nothing to thank them for saving the city. Loki gave the stuff a skeptical look while Thor wolfed it down like it was nothing.

"Good lord man…do you even chew your food?"

Thor had the grace to give her a sheepish look before slowing down and eating more like a human and less like a starving wolf.

"Better…and Loki…it isn't going to bite back you know?"

"I am aware of this…I am just…unsure if it is truly edible."

"It is…and it tastes pretty good too. Just try it…for me?"

"Very well Little One."

Loki ended up eating two of them, Thor scarfed down five which made the rest of them stare at him for a long while, and everyone else had one a piece. Lyria was smiling at how Natasha and Clint were curled up together, each touching the other to reassure themselves that they were ok…and Loki wasn't any better with her really as he had her pulled back against his chest, not that she was complaining mind you. Tony looked torn between being happy for her and being the concerned big brother…which made her laugh at him a bit because he looked a bit constipated. The next day they all ended up in a large park with the Tesseract safely contained thanks to Tony whipping up a special container overnight to hold it and keep it from influencing anyone. Thor held one side and Loki held the other, though Loki had a very reluctant look on his face as he had no desire to face his so-called father again. Lyria looked at her brother and Tony sighed softly before hugging her and nodding, whispering softly to her before letting go.

"Go on Angel…go and help him, but promise me you'll come back to me alright?"

"I promise. Try not to get yourself killed while I'm gone ok?"

"I promise I'll try my hardest."

Lyria walked over to Loki and Thor before wrapping her arms around Loki, who wrapped his free arm around her as well.

"I have to go Little One."

"I know. I'm going with you."

"Lady Lyria…you cannot…"

"You really want to try and stop me Thor? You really want to make me angry again?"

"I…do not…"

"Good…then let's go."

Clint and Natasha shared an amused look. Natasha had always liked Lyria because of her attitude and her loyalty. Clint had grown to like her after their first session of sarcastic banter and the two had yet to have a normal conversation that didn't include the sarcastic bickering. Steve frowned in concern at her wanting to go to some strange land with two alien men she barely knew, and was shocked Tony would allow her to go, but one look at Tony's strained smile and clenched fists was enough to let Steve know that he wasn't happy about it either. Bruce was just smiling softly. He'd seen the change in Loki after being around her and away from the Tesseract's influence, and he'd seen how happy he made Lyria, besides that…he knew just how well she could hold her own so he wasn't too concerned for her safety. Fury had no idea she had even left until after Clint and Natasha returned and told him. He expressed concern but the agents were quick to assure him that she would be just fine, and that she had promised Tony she'd come back as soon as she could, though Thor had warned them it might be awhile due to the 'still-not-fixed' Bifrost.

Upon arriving in Asgard Lyria held onto Loki with a death grip, her head spinning and her stomach complaining from the trip. He held onto her until she felt stable again and the concern on his face brought a smile onto Thor's in turn. Heimdall watched all of this with a small, secretive smile, having watched the events unfold in Midgard between them. Lyria looked around and blinked rapidly when she spied the large man with an equally large sword in his hand.

"Um…hello…"

"Hello Lady Lyria, and welcome to Asgard. The King and Queen are waiting for you all in the throne room."

When a group of guards met them outside and handcuffed Loki Lyria didn't protest, but when they tried to put some sort of metal muzzle on him she growled and stiffened, her wings unfurling in a threat display that actually made the men back up. Loki rested his hands on her arms and she settled down a bit, though she still glared at the guards.

"You are not putting that thing on him like he's some sort of rabid animal. I will not allow such inhumane treatment."

Thor backed her up and the guards put the thing out of sight, which finally allowed Lyria to calm down enough that her wings went away again. She stayed close to Loki's side, with Thor taking up a position on the other side of her as they walked through the city to the palace. Lyria had to admit the place was impressive, though the looks people were giving her unnerved her quite a bit.

"Why are they all staring at me like that? Is something wrong with how I look?"

"No Little One. There is nothing wrong with you. They are merely shocked that you are willingly wearing my colors. In Asgard, for a female to wear to colors of a noble male is to declare that she belongs to him."

"A bit barbaric really but…I don't mind belonging to you Loki…so long as you know that you also belong to me."

"I would have it no other way Little One."

The two shared a smile and Lyria kissed his cheek, shocking the people milling about, as they entered the palace. The guards took them straight to the throne room where the King and Queen were seated on a high platform on their thrones. Lyria frowned at the harsh look the King was giving Loki, though the Queen was smiling brightly at seeing her son again. Queen Frigga quickly walked down the steps, ignoring her husband's protesting behind her, and hugged her wayward son.

"Loki…I am so happy to see you alive and well."

"Mother…"

Loki's voice broke as he tried to speak to her, his eyes watering with unshed tears, and she embraced him as only a mother could. Lyria smiled softly at the sight, only to stiffen in shock as the Queen turned and pulled her into a hug as well…which had Thor and Loki both chuckling at her expression.

"Thank you, Lyria, for bringing my son back and helping him. Heimdall told us what you did my dear, and I have seen a glimpse into your future. Regardless of whatever my beloved husband might say to you, you are always welcome here my dear."

"Frigga…"

"Oh hush my love. Let them speak."

Lyria smiled at the Queen as Loki told them all of what had happened after he fell from the Bifrost. The King looked at Loki and the words he spoke made Lyria's blood boil in anger before she finally snapped at the man, shocking the entire throne room into silence.

"Do you actually expect us to fall for that story? You are well-known for your tricks Loki. Why should I believe some story you concocted to get out of being punished for your actions against Midgard?"

"It's not some story he concocted you pompous, arrogant, asshole! You brought him here after finding him as a baby, or so you say. You brought him home with you and told your wife you wanted to raise him as your own. Yet all you have done is made him feel that he is unimportant, and unloved by you. You never praised his accomplishments as you did Thor's, you never told him how much you care about him as you did with Thor. You raised him to believe he would one day be king, and then you yanked it out from under him while telling him he was adopted. You dumped that and the truth of his heritage on him all at once…and then you expect him to be normal and happy?! I have spent most of my life working with orphaned children and getting them adopted into loving homes. I help choose the families and then help the child and the new family to adjust. In the case of children too young to remember I teach the family how to explain it to them when they are older so that the child does not feel left out or unwanted. Queen Frigga has been a wonderful mother to both Thor and Loki equally…YOU on the other hand…well, you were a great father to Thor but to Loki…not even close. You may be a great king, I wouldn't know, but as a father…you have failed in my eyes."

King Odin's face had gone red in anger as she started yelling at him, only to pale as she continued on. Frigga gave her husband a sad look as it took an outsider for him to finally see what she'd been trying to tell him for years. She turned back to the girl as she spotted movement from the corner of her eye and felt her jaw drop in surprise. Heimdall had failed to tell them of this…and she would be certain to talk to him about it later. Lyria's beautiful Amethyst colored wings had unfurled and were displayed proudly behind her as she stared down the King of Asgard, as if daring him to try anything with her or Loki. Loki came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, grateful that Thor had gotten one of the guards to uncuff him when she started yelling. He rested his head on her shoulder and spoke softly into her ear, feeling er relax back against him as he calmed her down.

"I'm sorry Loki…I couldn't help it. I just got so angry…"

"I know Little One. It is fine. I will not allow any harm to come to you. If I have to fight all of Asgard to protect you I will. You are mine, and I am yours…remember?"

"Yes…I remember."

Odin cleared his throat to regain the pair's attention, watching as the girl stiffened again only to relax as Loki nuzzled her neck gently. Odin stood and walked down the steps to stand in front of the two, giving the girl a slightly wary look.

"I have decided that I will not imprison you as, according to all accounts, your attack on Midgard was not of your own doing. That being said…you will return to assist the Midgardians in cleaning up the mess left behind, and then you will return here where you belong…alone."

"No."

Loki spoke that single word in a low, almost growling tone as he pulled Lyria back against him as she had started to lunge for Odin when he said the word alone while looking at her like she was some kind of insect. Odin took a step back in surprise at Loki daring to speak to him like that, but Frigga was on her son's side.

"Odin! How dare you presume to meddle in our son's love life. That is MY domain if you would kindly remember that. I am in command of all affairs of the heart, romances, marriages, and births. You will NOT tell our son that he cannot be the woman he clearly already loves more than anyone he ever has before. Can you not see how perfect she is for him, how she calms his anger, soothes him and comforts him? I certainly can. If he chooses to come back at all it will be with this amazing young woman by his side."

"I think I like your mom Loki."

Loki chuckled softly at Lyria's stage whisper, and Thor was biting his lip to keep from laughing and drawing attention to himself. Odin and Frigga were having a stare-down, and Frigga won when Odin conceded that this was indeed her domain and backed down.

"I still maintain that a Midgardian Mortal does not belong in Asgard."

"There are ways around that Odin."

"Frigga…"

"We shall see how the relationship progresses husband mine. Loki, Lyria…Odin will return you both to Midgard now. I wish you both a safe journey and hope that I will see you both again soon."

After exchanging farewells with his mother and Thor, Loki was more than ready to leave again. He wrapped his arms around Lyria, pulling her close to him to protect her during the trip as Odin sent them back to Earth. The landing was surprisingly smooth as Loki was used to odd forms of travel. A throat clearing brought both of their heads up to see a grinning Tony and the confused Avengers staring at them…apparently Odin had dropped them in the living room of the tower. Tony immediately pulled his little sister into a tight hug, followed by Pepper of course, and the rest all gave their greetings before Steve said what all of them were thinking.

"Why is he back?"

"He's here to help clean up the mess."

"You mean the mess he caused?"

"No Steve Rogers…and I'll thank you to change that line of thought right this minute. Loki was not in control of himself during that mess. Are you all blaming Clint for what he did while under the control of another? No…I didn't think so. I don't blame you either Clint…just FYI…and I don't blame Loki either. Loki was being manipulated and controlled by a being far older, and more powerful, than our entire planet. Would you be able to be tortured for over a year while someone stronger than you keeps planting lies in your head and come out just fine on the other end? No, you wouldn't. Now…shall we all come up with a plan to tackle the clean-up process?"

No one dared to argue with the little firecracker Tony called his sister. Tony especially knew better than to argue with her once she'd made up her mind because she was even more stubborn than he was. Loki settled into a plush armchair and drew Lyria down to sit across his lap, Clint and Natasha were sharing one of the loveseats with Tony and Pepper on the other, and Bruce was sharing the sofa with Steve. It took a few hours for everyone to settle on a plan of action but they did eventually come to an agreement, thanks to Lyria and Natasha threatening bodily harm a few times. Steve and Tony would be moving the debris to try and find survivors, if survivors were found Loki and Lyria would transport them to the medical tents where Bruce would be in charge. Clint and Natasha were still technically working for Shield but they would also be helping in locating survivors and identifying them using handheld scanners from Shield. Tony hadn't quite gotten furniture put into every floor so some of them were going to have to double-up with their sleeping arrangements. Tony and Pepper went to his room, obviously, as he wasn't about to share with anyone else. Clint and Natasha volunteered to share since they did that a lot on missions anyway. Bruce and Steve ended up getting their own rooms as Lyria dragged Loki into her room, much to Tony's obvious displeasure.

"Wait a minute…why am I letting him go in there?"

"Because you know what will happen if you try to tell her no? It's not like he's going to hurt her Tony. You've seen how protective he is of her…and your bedroom record is hardly clean."

"I know Pep…but this is Lyria we're talking about…she's never even had a guy in the tower, let alone taken one to her room before. Hell…she's never even shown interest in anyone until now."

"All the more reason to leave her alone and let her handle this her way. Now…if you come with me we can…"

Whatever Pepper whispered into Tony's ear had him picking her up into his arms and bolting down the hall to their room, yelling over his shoulder that the rooms were all sound-proofed so they wouldn't have to worry about hearing him. Bruce laughed softly in amusement at the disgusted face Steve made.

"That's Tony for you."

"Yeah…Do you really think Lyria will be alright?"

"I think she can take care of herself Steve. She hits harder than any other woman I've ever met…aside from Natasha."

"That's who taught me to fight Bruce…her and Clint both. They are literally the only Shield people I trust."

"I thought you'd gone to bed Lyria."

"Loki's taking a shower so I figured I'd come check on everyone else…though I see you two are the only ones still up."

"Not for long Kiddo…it's been a long day after all. How did everything go in Asgard by the way?"

"Oh fine…I may have screamed at and/or lectured Odin…the king…and Loki's so-called father. The man needs to get a serious clue as to how a father should act towards their kids. My father may not have been the best ever but he was damn sure better than that guy."

"I knew Howard Stark…he was my friend. How could he have been a bad father?"

"Steve…I didn't say he was bad…just…not that great. He was hardly ever home, and when he was he was so focused on whatever project he had going that we barely even registered to him. He almost killed me when I was little…he had taken me with him to a gala for a project unveiling…I remembering being so excited because I thought I would get to spend time with him…he left me with his assistant while he mingled with everyone but she made sure I had fun. He got some spark of genius or something and picked me up before heading straight for home…it was raining really hard…storming like I'd never seen before at that age…I think I was…8 or 9 maybe…and he was in such a hurry to get home that he was driving way too fast."

Bruce had closed his eyes by this point as he had a bad idea where this story was heading and he knew he had to keep the Hulk calm. The Hulk had decided he liked the Stark twins, especially Lyria, and was becoming rather protective of them. Steve, for his part, looked very wary and concerned by what he was hearing…it didn't sound anything like the Howard Stark he had once called his friend. Neither of the two men dared to interrupt the woman for fear that she'd clam up and stop talking, and Bruce knew she likely hadn't told the whole story before. Steve opened his mouth when he saw Loki move out of the shadows behind her but Bruce slapped a hand over his mouth to keep him from saying anything.

"He lost control and we went over a bridge and into a river…I lost consciousness for a bit, I think he did too…when I woke up it was all dark and quiet…then he woke up and tried to start the car, which obviously failed…I think he realized then that we were underwater because he started to panic…which made me panic too. He kicked at the window but it didn't do anything so he grabbed something from the glove box and broke it. The water came rushing in so fast…He managed to get himself out of the car but…I guess he'd forgotten I was with him."

Steve's face had a horrified look on it and he looked as though he wanted to cry for her sake or hit her long-dead father. Bruce was taking deep calming breaths and chanting a mantra in his head, but the Hulk was too busy listening himself to come out just yet. Loki remained behind her, not touching her yet but ready and waiting as he listened to her story. He felt that what she went through was somehow worse than his own childhood because his father had at least never been so neglectful as to almost let him die.

"When he got to the shore there were already a lot of people around, including mom and Tony…when Tony saw dad come up without me he didn't even think…he just dove into the water, ignoring everyone screaming at him to come back because it wasn't safe. He dove down and came into the car, pulling me out and up to the surface where I started coughing almost immediately. One of the Firemen jumped in and pulled us both back to shore, wrapping us up in blankets and carrying us to a waiting ambulance to get checked out. Mom was yelling at dad so loudly and everyone was watching them…Tony and I just curled up together in the back of the ambulance…he was so afraid from almost losing me that he didn't leave my side for the next month."

Loki wrapped his arms around her from behind as he heard her voice hitch, turning her so her face was pressed into his chest as she started to cry. He rubbed her back with one hand and gently held the back of her head with the other. Bruce shook his head and growled softly as the Hulk came out, unable to hold him back anymore, but they were all surprised when he didn't go on a rampage or anything…he just sat down near Loki and Lyria and gave her a sad look with his hand held out to her. Lyria placed one of her hands in his giant one, giving the big green guy a soft smile to reassure him.

"I'm ok Hulk…I promise…I just haven't told anyone all of that before."

"Lyria…I am so…so sorry. Howard…the Howard Stark I knew…he wanted children so badly…he always talked about the things he'd so with a son and how he'd spoil a daughter…When I heard from Fury that he'd had twins I assumed you'd both have led perfect childhoods…I was so very wrong…I don't understand how…"

"Steve…stop. It wasn't your fault alright. My father…he had problems, like most of us do. He changed after that incident…not a lot, but enough that I was able to forgive him. Tony…Tony never has been able to forgive him for it. He kind of blames you for dad being uninterested in us because he feels that the super-soldier project was dad's obsession…and it was but it wasn't the only project that kept him away from us so I don't blame you."

Steve looked shocked at her words, and relieved that she at least didn't hate him. He figured Tony would take more work, but at least now he knew why Tony was so hostile towards him. Hulk finally calmed down and turned back into Bruce, causing Lyria to giggle and bury her face in the chest of a very amused god of mischief. Poor Bruce was sitting there in a pair of shredded pants and looking more than a bit confused.

"He didn't…attack anyone…he let me see what he was doing. He's never done that before…"

"Bruce…sweetie…look at me. The Hulk is a part of you. You can't change that. You need to learn to work with him, not against him. Let him out once in a while and I think you'll find him to be much easier to work with. He's not bad Bruce…he's just a bit like a child in mentality. He reacts strongly when he thinks you're in danger…but if you're safe he stays calm. He didn't go nuts here because he knew there was no threat…he just wanted to see for himself that I was ok. I'll talk to Tony tomorrow and see if he can build you a special room where you can let Hulk out to play and go nuts in without worrying about him harming anyone on accident ok?"

"I…alright…thank you Lyria…I'll…try to work with him more."

Steve chuckled softly as Lyria still wasn't quite looking at the half-naked Doctor on the floor. He walked over and helped Bruce get to his feet and led him down the hall to the room they were sharing for the night.

"Goodnight Miss Lyria."

"Goodnight Steve. Goodnight Bruce, and Hulk too."

Bruce just waved over his shoulder as Steve gently steered him into the room. Once inside Steve helped the still-shocked Bruce get ready for bed and all-but tucked him in. Bruce just smiled at him before falling asleep after murmuring a soft goodnight.

"Goodnight Dr. Banner…"

Steve then got himself ready and slept on the sofa in the room, not wanting to disturb Bruce as he got the feeling the man didn't often sleep well. Meanwhile, Loki gently lifted Lyria into his arms and carried her back to her room before sitting her gently on the bed.

"Thank you Loki."

"For what Little One?"

"For being here with me."

"I will remain with you for as long as you will have me Little One."

"I'm gonna go get changed…as much as I love this dress I am not going to sleep in it."

She grabbed something out of a drawer and slipped into the bathroom to change. Loki sat down on the sofa in her room and gazed out at the full moon, thinking about how drastically his life had changed in such a short amount of time…and all because of one little mortal woman who had grabbed his attention and stolen his heart. Somehow…he couldn't bring himself to mind how things had happened. When Lyria opened the bathroom door Loki turned to look at her, framed by the light behind her, and felt his mouth go dry. She had changed into a semi-sheer nightgown that left little to the imagination and Loki more than appreciated the view. He noticed how she seemed to shift from one foot to the other and was biting her lip, realizing she was nervous about his reaction. Loki stood and nearly stalked over to where she stood, pulling her into his arms and sealing his lips to hers in a kiss that made her knees weak.

"You…you like it then?"

"Like it? No Little One…I do not like this outfit…I adore this outfit. You were already beautiful in my eyes and now this…"

Loki lifted her into his arms and gently laid her on the bed before joining her. He was wearing a simple pair of soft sleep pants that she had nicked from her brother, and nothing else. Lyria's fingers began tracing patterns across the skin of Loki's chest and abs, marveling in the muscles as they jumped under her light touches. Loki's hands were hardly idle either…running along her spine and the curve of her hip…his ears reveling in the little sighs and whimpers his touch brought out of her.

"Loki…I…I've never…umm…you know…"

Loki gave her a soft smile, one that was reserved solely for her. Her words caused something warm and satisfied to bubble up from deep inside him, something primal and male. He would be her first and, if he had his way, her only. His fingers gently ran across her skin, touching everywhere he could reach that wasn't an intimate spot, teasing her with fleeting touches that never touched where she most needed them to.

"I promise you Little One…if you want this I will be as gentle as possible. I will teach you anything and everything you want to know."

Her answering smile caused his heart to trip and he just knew he could never let her go. Lyria bit her lip for a moment before hesitantly reaching between their bodies and brushing her fingers against the evidence of his interest in her, leaning in to whisper in his ear one simple phrase that had his eyes glinting in the darkness.

"I'm ready Loki…I want you…and only you…please Loki…"

Loki spent the rest of that night making her his, and once she got the hang of it she turned the tables on him and made him hers as well…not that he minded at all. The two of them spent the entire next morning sleeping, much to the amusement of most of the other inhabitants of the tower…though Steve was blushing bright red and Pepper had to sit in Tony's lap to keep him from going into Lyria's room. It was somewhere around 1 in the afternoon when the two finally came out of the room, Loki wearing just that single pair of pants and Lyria wearing a pair of boy shorts and a tank top. Tony was giving Loki the 'evil eye' as any big brother should, but he stopped when both Pepper and Lyria hit him for it. Steve simply could not look Lyria in the eye because every time he did he flushed a bright red color, which Tony teased him mercilessly for. Bruce's only reaction was to give Lyria a small smile and ask if she made sure to use protection…which caused Tony to choke on his coffee while everyone laughed at him.

"Oh…Tony…I wanted to see if you can design and build a special room for Bruce to let Hulk out to play where he doesn't have to worry about hurting anyone."

"I don't see why we can't…what features should we use?"

"It has to be big…maybe a whole floor? We have plenty of them. It needs to have stuff he can throw around without breaking and the walls have to be Hulk-proof…and no windows…."

"Ok…so…whole floor, no walls or windows…lots of unbreakable toys…shouldn't be too hard. You got any projects you want to work on?"

"Yeah…I'm going to design a suite of rooms for each member of our new team…personalized just for them. Meaning…if any of you wants anything special just let me know and I'll design it into your space. I think everyone can have their own floor right Tony?"

"Yeah sure…why not? We've got the space."

"I want an archery range with moving targets and a nest….that's all."

Lyria laughed at Clint's statement and nodded in agreement before turning to an amused Natasha who just smiled softly. Lyria and Clint were the only people that could get that look from her.

"What about you Tasha? Anything special you want?"

"If I show you a picture…could you make it look similar?"

"Of course Tasha…"

Lyria turned to Steve who flushed and looked at his feet again, mumbling softly until Lyria snapped her fingers at him.

"Steve…I'm a grown woman and I can sleep with whomever I want. Now…do you have any special request for your space?"

"I um…I'd like a gym…with equipment I can't break if possible."

Lyria nodded and gave Tony a look that told him he'd be adding that equipment to his project list. It'd give him a challenge to work on so he didn't mind much…plus Steve was starting to grow on him.

"Alright then…I think that's everyone."

"What about you and Loki?"

"I'll design a floor for the two of us to share…yes Tony…share. Get over it…you've done far worse."

Tony's mouth snapped shut and prompted another round of laughter at his expense. Pepper gave him a little kiss and he seemed to shake it all off.

"Fine…but you'd damn well better sound-proof the hell out of that place. I do NOT need to hear anything out of there got it?"

"Yes Tony…I plan to sound-proof all the rooms. Now begins the adventure of living in the same tower together…this should be interesting."

It took tony and Lyria very little time to design all of the rooms and have them built to their specifications. Lyria and Loki's floor had been designed to look like his rooms back on Asgard, but with a lot of her style added in to make it theirs. It took about a month for everyone to settle in and a small routine to form. Every morning they all had breakfast together, usually made by Lyria or Pepper, and then they'd all spend the day doing their own thing. Lyria would usually deliver lunch to everyone at some point and then they'd all meet back on the main floor for dinner, again fixed by Lyria or Pepper unless Tony ordered Take-out. Lyria had also done-up a floor for Thor for when the Bifrost got fixed and he was able to come and stay once in a while, which ended up being about 6 months after everything had happened. Thor was ecstatic to see how healthy and happy his brother was, and even more so when Loki embraced him as his brother again. The two ended up spending most of that day talking things over and healing old wounds. Thor became a regular occupant of the tower, with his love Jane coming to stay often as well when Thor could drag her away from her science. They made an awkward and odd little family but Lyria loved every minute of it and wouldn't have traded any of it for anything in the universe…and Loki agreed completely.

A.N: and thus ends this story. I may or may not do a sequel in the future but I have a lot of other ideas ahead of that so it would be a while if it happens at all. I hope you've all enjoyed this story as much as I have.


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